CLAE News

In January 2012 the US District Court for the Northern District of Florida ordered the forfeiture of the painting, the Cristo Portacroce Trascinato Da Un Manigoldo. On 4 November 2011 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) seized the painting belonging to the family of Federico Gentili di Giuseppe and which had been seized by the Nazis in 1941. See below for further details of the seizure and the statement of Pamela Marsh, the US State Attorney, that the Gentili heirs were the rightful owners of the paintng.   

On 14 December 2011 the UK Government announced that the most important archive on the Holocaust would open in the UK. 50 million records on 17.5 million people currently held by the the International Tracing Service (ITS) in Bad Arolsen, Germany, have been digitised, and will be accessible at The Wiener Library in London, the world's oldest Holocaust memorial institution. The Library already hosts the UK’s largest collection of personal papers and testimonies of refugees and Holocaust survivors. The ITS records come from concentration, slave labour and displaced persons’ camps from the Nazi-era, the Second World War and the ten years that followed. Anne Webber, Co-Chair of the Commission for Looted Art in Europe, convened and chaired the UK Stakeholder Group which led the initiative to bring the archive to the UK. To read more, see below.

On 5 May 2011 the Commission announced its partnership and participation in the new International Research Portal for Records Related to Nazi-Era Cultural Property at http://www.archives.gov/research/holocaust/international-resources/. The Commission selected, described and provided the introduction to the records of the UK National Archives at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/looted-art.asp.  For full details of this global initiative, see the press releases and news stories below.   

Other News: The news stories below focus on the work of CLAE. A comprehensive archive of all news stories on Nazi looting and art restitution can be found at www.lootedart.com/news at the Central Registry of Information on Looted Cultural Property 1933-1945. The Central Registry was set up by CLAE to provide up-to-date information about research, publications, conferences, exhibitions and cases relating to the Nazi seizure of art and its recovery.  To sign up for the Central Registry’s free newsletter, click subscribe.

• "Court Forfeits Cristo Portacroce After Italy Does Not File A Claim"
  Cultural Heritage Lawyer, 5 January 2012
• "US seizes Romanino painting stolen from Gentili family by Nazis in World War ll"
  US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 4 November 2011

• "UK gets chance to trace persecution"
  Jewish Chronicle, 16 December 2011
• "Holocaust archive to open in Britain"
  Jerusalem Post 16 December 2011
• Related press release

• "US database documents Nazi theft of Jewish goods"
  AFP, 6 May 2011
• "Archives Launches Database of Looted Nazi Art"
  New York Times, 5 May 2011
• "Thousands of Holocaust documents go online"
  Jewish Chronicle, 5 May 2011
• "Archives to launch database of looted Nazi art"
  AP, 5 May 2011
• "Catalogue lists art looted by Nazis"
  Financial Times, 5 May 2011
• "Archive of artworks stolen by Nazis goes online"
  The Guardian, 5 May 2011
• "National Archives and Partners Launch New International Nazi-Era Records Internet Portal"
  Artdaily, 5 May 2011
• "Record of Looted Artefacts Online"
  Daily Express, 5 May 2011
• "Treasures stolen by Nazis in WW2 could be reclaimed"
  Daily Telegraph, 5 May 2011
• "Looted Nazi art records go online"
  BBC News, 5 May 2011
• "Online database of art looted by Nazis points to a more complex history"
  The Guardian, 5 May 2011
• "Nations’ archives launch Nazi-era property portal"
  JTA, 4 May 2011
• Related press releases

• "Nuremberg trial man's niece reunited with looted art"
  Jewish Chronicle, 8 April 2011
• "Second Nazi-looted painting restituted to Vienna family"
  JTA, 6 April 2011
• Related press release

• "Bavaria Eases Return of Looted Art, Will Restitute Watercolor"
  Bloomberg, 8 April 2011
• "Commission for Looted Art in Europe case leads to change in Bavarian Law"
  18 March 2011
• "High cost of returning Nazi loot in Bavaria"
  The Art Newspaper 1 November 2010

• "Government appoints Holocaust envoy"
  PA, 9 June 2010
• Related press releases

• "New British law lets museums return works stolen by Nazis"
  Haaretz, 15 November 2009
• "UK museums can return looted art"
  BBC News, 13 November 2009
• "New legal right for Nazi-looted art heirs"
  Jewish Chronicle, 28 October 2009
• "House of Commons OKs Restitution Bill on Nazi-Looted Art"
  Artinfo, 29 June 2009
• "Museums ready to hand back Nazi loot"
  Sunday Herald, 14 June 2009
• "New looted art law effective ‘in autumn’"
  Jewish Chronicle, 12 June 2009
• "British bill to smooth way for return of Nazi-looted art"
  CBC, 29 July 2005
• "British institutions to return art looted by the Nazis"
  The Times, 29 July 2005
• "Minister supports law change on looted art"
  Jewish Chronicle 27 July 2005
• "Britain may rewrite its laws in order to return Nazi-looted art"
  Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 14 July 2005

• "Israel restitutes Nazi-looted art"
  JTA, 1 July 2008
• "Israel Museum returns artifacts looted by Nazis"
  Jerusalem Post AP, 1 July 2008
• "Nazi looted relics returned to former owner's heirs"
  Reuters, 1 July 2008
• "Israel Museum Buys Back Nazi-Looted Gold Medallions From Heirs"
  Bloomberg, 1 July 2008
• Related press release

• "Nazi-Looted Cross Saved From Garbage Returns to Heirs"
  Bloomberg, 6 May 2008
• "Polish heir wants looted cross returned to his museum in Poland"
  International Herald Tribune, 22 August 2007
• "Austria: Middle Ages cross turns up in trash"
  International Herald Tribune, 16 August 2007
• Related press releases

• "Irrwege eines Pissarro - Geschichte einer Restitution"
  Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 31 October 2009
• "Family wrangle halts sale of £1.5m Pissarro stolen by the Gestapo"
  The Times, 24 June 2009
• "Fee row over found Pissarro"
  Jewish Chronicle, 21 March 2008
• "CMC Professor Involved in Art Restitution Controversy"
  Claremont Independent 12 March 2008
• "Pissarro Lost and Found"
  ARTnews, 1 September 2007
• "Nazi Art Dealer's Will Disperses Dutch Masters, Expressionists"
  Bloomberg, 12 July 2007
• "Nazi-Looted Pissarro in Zurich Bank Pits Heiress Against Dealer"
  Bloomberg, 6 June 2007

• "Owners sought for Nazi-looted books"
  Jewish Chronicle, 29 February 2008

• "What an ugly business"
  Evening Standard, 25 January 2008
• "Russia approves UK art exhibition"
  BBC News, 10 January 2008
• "Russia calls off major art loan as ties with UK worsen"
  Guardian, 19 December 2007
• "The plot to protect art looted by the Nazis"
  Evening Standard, 27 November 2006

• "McAleese remarks 'uncalled for'"
  RTE, 22 January 2008
• "Irish Museum Cleared of Nazi Loot Claim"
  Associated Press, 29 September 2007
• "Team probing 'Nazi loot' in museum quits"
  The Sunday Times - Ireland, 13 February 2005
• "Hunt Museum takes Action to Examine Centre Simon Wiesenthal Allegations about the Hunt Collection"
  13 February 2004
• Related press release

• "Reporter returns painting looted in World War Two"
  The Scotsman, 2 June 2006
• "Renaissance woman returned to gallery"
  The Guardian, 1 June 2006
• "Reporter returns looted portrait"
  BBC News UK, 1 June 2006
• Related press release

• "UK High Court plugs loophole on Marbles"
  Kathimerini, 28 May 2005
• "Judge blocks return of pictures looted from victim of Nazis"
  The Guardian, 28 May 2005
• "Nazi loot setback"
  The Times, 28 May 2005
• "Art stolen by Nazis 'cannot be returned'"
  The Scotsman, 27 May 2005
• "High Court Judgement - 27 May 2005. Holocaust Spoilation and the Feldmann Drawings"
  27 May 2005
• "Law blocks return of looted art"
  BBC News, 27 May 2005
• "British Museum Can't Return Looted Works, Court Says"
  Bloomberg, 27 May 2005
• "Elgin Marbles cast dark shadow over looted art"
  The Times, 25 May 2005
• Related press releases

• "Gift of art to atone for looting by Nazis"
  The Times, 2 December 2004
• "Return Nazi-grab art"
  NY Daily News, 1 December 2004
• "Nazi-looted Rembrandt handed back 65 years later"
  Reuters, 30 November 2004

• "After four decades of struggle, heirs of Czech collector win back some art"
  Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 28 March 2003

• "British Museum to return drawings looted by Nazis"
  The Times, 2 October 2002
• "Nazi-looted art set to go back to family"
  The Daily Telegraph, 2 October 2002
• "Nazi loot claim 'compelling'"
  BBC, 2 October 2002
• ""British Museum admits it has art looted by Nazis""
  The Independent, 2 October 2002
• "Looted pictures' claim against British Museum"
  The Guardian, 28 May 2002
• "Family of Nazi victims claim museum pictures"
  The Telegraph,, 28 May 2002
• "British Museum faces Nazi loot claim"
  BBC, 28 May 2002
• Related press release

• "Treasure Hunter"
  The Daily Telegraph, 15 February 2003
• "Art sleuths claim back Hitler's loot"
  The Observer, 5 May 2002
• Related press release

• "Germany Posts List of Looted Nazi Art on Internet"
  Deutsche Welle, 1 August 2007
• "Boost for victims of Nazi art thefts"
  The Jewish Chronicle, 29 June 2007
• "Looted lady"
  The Guardian, 2 August 2006
• "Stolen treasure"
  Haaretz, 12 August 2004
• "Treasure Hunter"
  The Daily Telegraph, 15 February 2003
• "A Curator of Lost Artwork and Found Memories"
  The New York Times, 25 May 2002
• "Art sleuths claim back Hitler's loot"
  The Observer, 5 May 2002
• Related press release